We found 20 stunningly interesting facts about our body that deeply impressed us. Did you know about all these?

1. A tongue print is absolutely unique; remember this when showing it to somebody! (springer)

2. A single hair can hold the weight of a hanging apple. However, scientists don’t specify the dimensions of the apple. (theguardian)

3. The number of bacteria in a person’s mouth is equal to the number of people living on Earth, or even more. (harvard.edu)

4. Nails that are soft and brittle, with no moon, could indicate an overactive thyroid. (dailymail)

5. The speed of an incoming brain impulse is about 400 km/h. (scienceline)

6. There are not just four different blood types as we used to think, but in fact 29! The rarest of them belongs to the Bombay subtype, which is common for a small group of families in Japan. (ncbi)

7. Over the course of just one day, our blood ‘runs’ the distance of 19,312 kilometers. (howstuffworks)

8. The total length of all the nerves in the human body is 75 kilometers. (washington)

9. A human makes approximately 20,000 breaths per day. (epa.gov)

10. Almost all people in the world have special mites on their eyelashes called demodex. (microscopy-uk.org.uk)

11. A human eye can distinguish up to 10 million different colors. But our brain can’t remember all of them. (color-theory-phenomena)

12. Our ears keep on growing throughout our lives with almost unbelievable speed – a quarter of a millimeter per year! (ncbi)

13. The heart beats 35 million times a year. Yes, 35 million. A year! (rodgershealth)

14. Every day, the human body loses about one million skin cells – that amounts to 2 kilos every year. (health)

15. 1 square centimeter of your skin contains around a hundred pain sensors. (hometrainingtools)

16. Boys have fewer taste buds on the surface of their tongues than girls do. (sciencedaily)

17. The average person consumes about 35 tons of food during his or her life.

18. A human spends about five years of their life blinking. Fortunately, we can do many other things simultaneously! (makewav)

19. 100,000 chemical reactions occur every second in our brains. (The Hidden Spirituallity of Men)

20. The speed of your sneeze is 160 km/h. (scienceline)

Handling a Pet Produces a Measurable Drop in Cortisol

All of these feel-good interactions are more than just happy talk. A 2019 study found that there’s hard science behind warm-and-fuzzy interventions like the AVPs: in a randomized trial involving 250 students, researchers measured significant drops in students’ salivary cortisol levels after 10-minute hands-on petting of cats and dogs in an AVP. Study group at the local cat café, anyone?

Interacting With Animals Can Make Us Better People

What do other species mean to us (and vice versa)? To get at the heart of the matter, we turned to Kathy Stevens, co-founder of Catskill Animal Sanctuary — a 150-acre refuge in New York’s Hudson Valley where, for the past two decades, thousands of animals have found love and peace after lives full of cruelty and neglect. “Spending time with animals reminds us of our responsibility to right the wrongs our species has created, but also of what’s important — love and connection, regardless of outward differences like class or race or species,” she says. “Animals are teachers and friends, sources of solace and inspiration, and perhaps most importantly, reminders of our moral obligation as caretakers of the planet. That’s how they’ve changed our lives — they keep us grounded in what matters.” Read on to meet some of the Sanctuary’s residents — and to learn just how lucky we are to share the planet with them.

Animals Could Be Therapeutic Aids for Children With Autism

In a pioneering Australian study, researchers measured physiological arousal, an indicator of social anxiety, in trios of 5- to 12-year-old children interacting in classroom-like activities such as reading aloud, reading silently, and engaging in play. In peer interactions where guinea pigs were present (as opposed to peer interactions where toys were present), children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) displayed reduced arousal and increased positive emotion — which leads researchers to believe that animals could function as “social buffers” in therapeutic settings for them.

Seeing Birds Can Make Us as Happy as Getting a Raise

If you’ve experienced the pandemic-era thrill of discovery at the end of a pair of binoculars, you’re in good company. To learn more about that thrill, scientists from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research crunched the numbers from a survey of 26,000 people in 26 European countries. They found that a 10 percent increase in species diversity — that is, seeing 14 additional bird species in their vicinity — increased respondents’ life satisfaction at least as much as 10 percent more money in their household accounts each month. If rare birds don’t flock to your neighborhood, don’t despair: English researchers have found that bird abundance (as opposed to variety) is associated with lower levels of negative mental health indicators.

Spending Time on a Farm Can Protect Against Childhood Asthma

Colonizing bacteria known as microbiota “educate” our immune systems in how to respond to the outside world. German scientists analyzed bacteria samples from more than 700 infants who spent part of their earliest months on traditional farms and found that those youngsters had especially mature and effective gut bacteria — gut bacteria that could actually help protect their lungs (and help explain why children who grow up on a farm have a lower risk of developing allergies and asthma).

Visiting Animals Where They Live Is Good for Your Gut

German researchers were especially surprised to discover the positive environmental effects of “farm-related exposures” like time spent in barns and sheds where animals feed and sleep; could a day trip to a local farm sanctuary be in the cards for you and your new arrival this fall? Put another way (in a discussion of a study that found diverse microbes in Amish babies’ systems), “Too clean is not necessarily a good thing.”

Having Pets Early in Life Can Reduce Kids’ Risk of Allergies

The so-called “mini-farm effect,” observed when exposure to a wide variety of microbes and other “immunoregulatory factors” like dog and cat allergens leads to a child’s eventual tolerance of other common allergens (i.e. food and airborne irritants like dust and pollen), has also been reported among children in Sweden. Researchers analyzed data from more than 1,000 young subjects and found that there was a dose-dependent association between having dogs and cats in a household and tolerance to allergic disease — so cohabiting with more cats and dogs reduces risk and increases their beneficial effect.

A Goat’s Gaze Could Cause a Happiness-Hormone Spike

Scientists have known for some time that the “puppy-dog eyes” our canine pals give us can increase our levels of the feel-good cuddle hormone oxytocin, and that the loving looks we give them in return cause their oxytocin levels to increase. (Known as a “positive loop,” it’s heralded as one of the reasons the human-canine bond is so close.) Recent research is demonstrating that goats are also capable of responding to human expressions and our emotional cues, as well as looking to us for help in problem-solving — and study authors speculate that their loving looks might be just as loaded. When it comes to being humankind’s best friend, could goats have had the potential to be the G.O.A.T. all along?

Horses Offer Support for Psychotherapy Patients

As providers of both physical and psychological support for humans, horses have an astounding history: they have been aids in therapeutic treatment since the second century, and there are now 26 different ways interacting with horses can be medically beneficial to people. A systematic review published last year in Environmental Research and Public Health highlighted the emerging and promising science of equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) for patients with trauma and personality problems. Research shows that interventions with horses’ assistance could positively influence patient-caregiver trust, offer strong motivation to continue therapy and help patients develop resilience — all crucial aids for groups that tend to drop out of care and have low expectations of treatment.

Interacting With Animals Reduces Stress in Students

As of 2015, more than 1,000 American colleges had animal visitation programs (or AVPs) available to calm the minds of students and administrators alike. AVPs generally last between five and 45 minutes and can range from interactions with therapy dogs or staffers’ pets to extended sessions with adoptable animals from local shelters. Those meet and greets have been associated with everything from higher positive emotions, reduction in negative emotions, lower perceived stress and mood improvements.

Rescuers saved both Scout and Zeke’s lives. Scout (left) has become the benevolent leader of the herd, and is often the first to approach visitors.

So, next time you’re cooking and accidentally screw up the recipe, embrace the failure and see where it takes you. If you read through these examples of accidental tastiness, you’ll see that history is on your side.

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who invented it? Toll House Inn’s Ruth Wakefield When? 1930 What happened? Wakefield found she had ran out of baking chocolate one day, so she smashed up a bar of semisweet chocolate and added it to her batter. What resulted was a cookie studded with chunks of chocolate. Soon, her Massachusetts inn was known for its chocolate chip cookies.

2. Popsicles

Who invented it? (11 year old!) Frank Epperson When? 1905 What happened? Epperson left his soda-making equipment out on his porch. When he returned for it the next morning he discovered the stick he was using to stir the mixture had frozen upright in the liquid. In 1924, he applied for a patent for his new discovery, which he originally dubbed the “Epsicle.” Later on, he changed the name to the one we’re more familiar with today: popsicle.

3. Nachos

Who invented it? Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya When? 1943 What happened? Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya was a maître d’ at a restaurant called the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, Mexico. One day in 1943, a group of ten military wives crossed the border from Fort Duncan Army base. Unable to track down the chef and faced with ten hungry women, Anaya decided to improvise—he covered a plate of tostadas with grated cheese, passed it through a salamander (a broiling unit that heats food from above), and topped the whole thing off with jalapeños. One of the women dubbed the dish “Nacho’s especiale” (“Nacho’s special”), which was later shortened to just “nachos” when Anaya took the dish to El Moderno restaurant and finally opened his own place—Nacho’s Restaurant.

4. Worcestershire Sauce

Who invented it? Lord Marcus Sandy When? 1838 What happened? Upon returning to England, the formal Bengal colonial governor found himself craving his favorite Indian sauce and commissioned drugstore owners John Lea and William Perrins to recreate it based purely on his descriptions. The stench of the product they created proved to be far too offensive to sell in their store, so they stashed it in their basement for two years. This aging period improved the flavors vastly and the sauce became a hit with customers.

5. Beer

Who invented it? Mesopotamians When? About 10,00 years ago. What happened? When Mesopotamians began storing grains for bread, their storage spaces occasionally became damp, which caused the grains to ferment. This fermentation process resulted in the earliest beer. We should all raise a glass to that first Mesopotamian who was brave enough to sample the strange liquid.

6. The Sandwich

Who invented it? John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich When? Sometime in the 1700s What happened? There is some debate about the invention of the sandwich. Some believe Motagu couldn’t leave a particularly intense gambling game, so he requested that meat be brought to him between two pieces of bread. Others believe that work kept him at his desk for many hours, necessitating a utensil-free meal. Either way, Montagu’s refusal to get up for a meal resulted in one of the greatest culinary advances in history.

7. Tofu

Who invented it? The Chinese When? Ancient China What happened? One origin story maintains that boiled, ground soybeans were accidentally mixed with impure seasalt contaning calcium and magnesium salts, causing the soybeans to gel. Yet another Chinese legend tells of a cook accidentally dropping nigari (a natural coagulant) into a pot of soybean milk, creating a curdling effect that produced tofu.

8. Brandy

Who invented it? Dutch vintners When? 17th century What happened? Vintners would boil their wine in order to reduce its volume for transport, then cut it with water on the other end. They didn’t realize that by transporting this concentrated mixture in wooden casks, the fortified wine would be transformed into something very different.

9. Potato Chips

Who invented it? Chef George Crum When? 1853 What happened? A customer at Saratoga Springs’ Moon Lake House sent batch after batch of fried potatoes back to the kitchen, complaining that they were not thin enough. Chef Crum was tired of the complaints, so he sliced the last batch of potatoes as thinly as he could, fried and salted them, and sent them out. The customer loved them and soon the word of these crunchy fried potatoes spread across the region.

10. Nashville Hot Chicken

Who invented it? Thornton Prince’s spurned lover When? 1930s What happened? Nashville’s spicy take on fried chicken is served throughout the city (and beyond) today, but its origins are at the famous Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. Restaurant lore traces the recipe back to current owner Andre Jeffries’s great-uncle Thornton Prince, an infamous womanizer. When she thought he was creeping, one of his jealous lover’s fed him extra-spicy chicken out of vengeance—turned out, he liked it so much that he began cooking it at his restaurant.

11. Champagne

Who invented it? Unknown When? 1490s What happened? The bubbles in champagne were initially considered a serious problem for the Champagne region. Changes in climate starting during the 1490s caused temperatures to drop, creating a shorter growing season. The effect on fermentation was disastrous. The yeast that converted sugars to alcohol in grape juice would stop working too early and lay dormant until the following spring. When the weather warmed back up, the yeast would start a second fermentation, producing carbon dioxide in the juice. This secondary fermentation caused stoppers to push out and bottles to explode. But once these bubbles were harnessed, the results were miraculous.

12. Kellogg’s Cereal

Who invented it? Will Kellogg When? Early 1900s What happened? While working in a sanitarium in Michigan, Will “W.K.” Kellogg attempted to make granola as a “healthy treat” for his patients. Instead of making granola, W.K. and his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, accidentally flaked wheat berry. W.K. kept experimenting until he flaked corn, and created the delicious recipe for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Breakfast hasn’t been the same since.

13. Coke

Who invented it? John Pemberton When? 1886 What happened? Pemberton was a wounded veteran who had become addicted to morphine. He sought to create a replacement to stave off his addiction. Through some experimenting in his pharmacy, he created a tonic (the original Coca-Cola formula) that contained small amounts of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut. In 1887, another Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Candler, bought the formula for Coca-Cola from Pemberton for $2,300. By the late 1890s, Coca-Cola was one of America’s most popular fountain drinks, largely due to Candler’s aggressive marketing of the product as a soda.

14. Cheese Puffs

Who invented it? The Flakall Company of Beloit, Wisconsin When? 1930s What happened? The Flakall Company invented the machine that crushed grains for animal feed without hulls and grain dust. Edward Wilson noticed that workers poured moistened corn kernels into the machine to reduce clogging. The machine got so hot that the moist cornmeal came out in puffy ribbons, hardening as it hit the air and fell to the ground. Wilson took the ribbons home, added oil and seasoning, and made the first cheese curls.

15. Ice Cream Cones

Who invented it? Ernest Hamwi When? 1904 What happened? At the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, an ice-cream vendor had run out of dishes. Hamwi, a neighboring concessionaire, rolled the waffle-like pastries he was selling (called zalabis) into a cone so his neighbor’s ice cream could be held inside. The cone became an instant hit with customers.

1. “Shrinking” your body

Standing with rounded shoulders, contracting your chest, and keeping your elbows tucked in close to your side maybe your effort to look smaller or less intimidating, or it may just be poor posture. However, this stance makes you look weak and vulnerable, Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D. body language expert says. How can you fix this? Don’t be afraid to take up space! “Keeping your posture erect, your shoulders back, and your head held high makes you look confident and powerful,” she explains.

2. Shifting your weight from foot to foot

No one expects you to stand like a statue, but if you’re constantly shifting your weight or dancing around, it makes you appear as if you’re anxious to leave, says Cassandra LeClair, Ph.D., professor of communication studies at Texas State University. The first step to fixing this problem is to realize you’re doing it in the first place since it can sometimes happen unconsciously. When you find yourself engaging in this shifty behavior, LeClair advises taking a moment to center yourself and be more present in all of your interactions. If you are doing it to relieve some physical discomfort, either adjust your position (say, take a seat) or explain to the other person what’s happening, she adds.

3. Looking up and to the left

Casting your eyes up and to the left when you are recalling a story or an event is a common body language “tell” that you might be lying, making you look suspicious or dishonest, says body language and relationship expert Nicole Moore. However, sometimes people unintentionally do this when they’re actually telling the truth, especially when they may be “searching” their brain for a response.

To fix this, “make sure you look people in the eye when you’re recounting a story that’s truthful, and resist the temptation to roll your eyes back into your head,” Moore says. “Alternatively, you can take a deep breath, close your eyes as if you’re gaining composure, and then tell the story. This body language indicates depth and that you’re taking your time to recount the story, not that you’re lying.”

4. Constantly glancing at your phone

When someone is speaking to you, resist technological temptations and give them your full and undivided attention, says Tara Ackaway, CEO and founder of Social Wise Communications. Constantly looking around the room or glancing at your phone every time it alerts (even if you don’t actually read it!) communicates that you’re not interested in what the other person is saying and can make them feel uncomfortable opening up to you. Rather than holding your phone in your hand, put it in a pocket or purse, where you won’t be tempted to look at it.

5. Crossing your arms

“Regardless of how comfortable you may be with your arms crossed, it is almost always perceived as a closed sign of resistance,” Goman says, adding that it can make you look like you are in a bad mood, nervous, or don’t want to be approached. Instead, keep your arms open, your hands loose, and your movements relaxed. “It’s the ultimate ‘see, I have nothing to hide’ gesture and sends silent signals of credibility and candor,” she explains. Use these 9 body language tips to get what you want.

6. Speaking with a higher-pitched voice

Some people unconsciously speak with a higher voice. It may be because they are nervous or think it looks “cute,” or it may just be an old habit. However, the quality of your voice can be a deciding factor in how you are perceived, and speakers with higher-pitched voices are deemed less empathetic, less powerful, and more nervous than speakers with lower-pitched voices, Goman says.

So, make a conscious effort to lower your vocal pitch. “One easy technique is to put your lips together and say, ‘Um hum, um hum, um hum.’ Doing so relaxes your voice into its optimal lower pitch,” Goman says. “This is especially helpful before you get on an important phone call—where the sound of your voice is critical.”

7. Avoiding eye contact

You may be an introvert, you may be shy, or your cultural background may have taught you that extended eye contact is not appropriate. But avoiding eye contact can make you appear uneasy, unprepared, insecure, insincere, and dishonest, Goman says. This is such a reliable indicator of how someone is feeling that the eyes are generally the first thing security experts notice about you.

If looking people directly in the eye makes you uncomfortable, focus instead on their eye color, Goman suggests. “Whenever you meet someone, look into his or her eyes long enough to notice what color they are,” she says. “That will help create a strong personal connection.”

8. Using “upspeak”

You may not be familiar with this term, but you’ve definitely heard people use this vocal technique. Upspeak is when you end every sentence by raising the pitch of your voice, making it sound almost like a question. “There’s nothing that kills credibility faster than upspeak,” Goman says. “It makes it sound as if you are asking a question instead of telling someone [something] or seeking approval.”

Instead, speak authoritatively. How, exactly, can you do that? “When making a statement, start speaking on one note, raise the pitch slightly through the sentence, and then drop it back down at the end,” Goman advises.

9. Smiling excessively

Never smiling makes you look depressed or intimidating, but smiling too much can also be problematic. “Excessive or inappropriate smiling can be confusing and undermines your credibility,” Goman says. The key is knowing when to smile. Pay attention to the conversation to make sure you’re smiling at appropriate times—such as when you first meet someone—and keeping a serious face when the conversation is serious.10. Standing in the “fig leaf pose”

Holding your hands tightly in front of your groin is often referred to as “the fig leaf pose,” and while it might feel comfortable, you still want to avoid it. “This gesture almost always indicates to other people that we’re afraid, closed off, or angry,” Moore explains. And when you really take a closer look at how you’re feeling, that may actually be what’s going on. So, remind yourself before you communicate with anyone that you are safe and that you don’t need to defend yourself, Moore says. Then relax and let your arms and hands hang by your sides. If you gesture with your hands, keep them open.

10. Giving a fake smile

Some people smile awkwardly to mask discomfort, but instead of making you look relaxed, this sends a mixed message to others. “Your face is doing the opposite of what you actually feel, and people can sense that,” Moore says. “Many people learned in childhood to laugh at discomfort or make a joke when feeling bad as a way to protect themselves, but this isn’t a good coping technique.”

To remedy this mistake, you first need to be aware of what you’re doing. Then you can work to become more comfortable with your discomfort and express your feelings in a more genuine and appropriate way. “Practice moving your face into the way it’s meant to be to properly display the emotion you’re actually feeling,” Moore suggests.

11. Playing with your hair

One of the most distracting things you can do during a conversation touches your face and/or hair. “In many cases, people do this as a nervous habit and may not even realize they are doing it,” Ackaway says. “However, it can make you look anxious, ill-prepared, disinterested in the topic of discussion, or even intimidated.” So, hands-off! Resist the urge to fiddle with your hair, face, clothing, purse, or anything else. Keep your hands relaxed at your sides. If that isn’t enough, keep your hands distracted by holding a drink.

12. Staying silent and still

Interrupting or talking over others is the peak of rudeness, but some people go too far in the other direction and try to stay perfectly quiet while others are talking. However, natural listeners will make some gestures and noises to show they are paying attention, LeClair says. Nodding, smiling, leaning in, and making small verbal responses (“Mmm-hmm” or “Oh, I see”) all show genuine interest and enhance the connection with the person you’re speaking with, she adds.

13. Not communicating enough

Everyone makes mistakes with their body language, and the goal isn’t to be a perfect robot. Rather, it’s to help you become aware of what and how you’re communicating, LeClair says. Talking with others can clarify your intentions and clear up any misunderstandings. LeClair gives this real-life example: “If you don’t want to change your posture, try explaining to your conversational partner why you stand this way. For example, my hands are always cold. I tell my students that I stand with my arms crossed a lot to keep my hands warm. I let them know this information [so they don’t] assume I am frustrated or angry as we are talking.”

1. Raccoons pick locks

If you’re planning a whimsical animal burglary, you’ll definitely want a raccoon anchoring your squad. In a bizarre 1908 study by ethologist H.B. David, raccoons were able to pick complex locks in fewer than ten attempts, even after the locks were rearranged or flipped upside-down. Various studies conducted from the ’60s to the ’90s found that raccoons boast an impeccable memory, able to recall solutions to tasks for up to three years.

Bonus fact: Thanks to their broad hearing range, raccoons literally hear earthworms moving underground. (How this will benefit you in your heist is for you to determine.) Knowing this, we’re shocked that raccoons were not responsible for any of these funny crimes committed by animals!

2. Crows know physics

Not only can crows recognize faces to differentiate between predatory and benign species, they also understand basic physics (like this lab crow who mastered water displacement to maneuver a treat within reach), have been known to change entire migration patterns to avoid farms where crows have been killed in the past, and may even memorize city garbage routes so they can snag the inevitable food droppings on trash day.

3. Pigs use mirrors

Pigs may as well be man’s best friend, according to a 2015 paper from the International Journal of Comparative Psychology. Like dogs, pigs have been shown to understand emotions, demonstrate empathy, solve mazes, learn simple symbolic languages and, most adorably, make best friends. As some of the smartest animals in the world, the youngest pigs even put our youngest humans to shame.

In an experiment where wee British piglets had to use mirrors to divine the path to a hidden bowl of food, piggies as young as six weeks old learned the concept of reflection within a few hours—a milestone that takes baby humans several months to grasp.

4. Octopi are master escape artists

True prison-breakers of the sea, these tentacled creatures have proven time and again their talents for popping lids off screw-top jars, compressing their bulky bodies through slit-small holes, and climbing impossibly out of aquarium tanks to their freedom.

5. Squirrels use sleight of hand

If you’ve ever second-guessed yourself while trying to remember an online account password, know that you have stooped to sub-squirrel intelligence. According to a Princeton University study, grey squirrels are capable of remembering where thousands of nuts are buried—for months at a time. They’ll even use subterfuge to trick would-be nut takers; in a 2010 study, squirrels who knew they were being watched dug fake caches for their nuts, making a show of digging holes and patting them over with dirt while hiding their precious nuts under their armpits or in their mouth until they could find a more suitable hiding spot elsewhere.

6. Dolphins cheat

Dolphins are often cited as the second smartest animals on Earth due to their relatively high brain-to-body size ratio, the capacity to show emotion, and impressive mimicry of the dumb apes who research them. Now, findings from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi suggest dolphins may also be the second-sneakiest animals on Earth. When dolphins at the Institute were trained to pick up litter in their tanks and exchange them with trainers for fish, one dolphin named Kelly discovered a way to game the system. By hiding scraps of litter under a rock in her tank, Kelly discretely tore single sheets of discarded paper into multiple pieces, then turned them in one at a time to maximize her fishy reward. Kelly’s clever deception, it seems, was no accident; researchers say she did it all on purpose.

7. Bees hold dance-offs

Honeybees have evolved what we call “swarm intelligence,” with up to 50,000 workers in a single colony coming together to make democratic decisions. When a hive gets too crowded in springtime, colonies deploy scouts to look for a new home. If any scouts disagree on where the colony should build its next hive, they argue their case the civilized way: through a dance-off. Each scout performs a “waggle dance” for other scouts in an attempt to convince them of their spot’s merit; the more enthusiastic the dance, the happier the scout was with his spot.

8. Elephants don’t need Facebook

In case you’ve forgotten, elephants have incredible memories. They’re able to recall specific routes to watering holes over incredible stretches of terrain and over the span of many years—and they never forget a friend, either. In 1999, an elephant named Shirley arrived at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Immediately, a resident elephant named Jenny became animated and playful. It wasn’t love at first sight; Jenny remembered Shirley from when they performed briefly in a circus together—22 years earlier.

9. Chickens know shapes and colors

Although chickens can sometimes have an unintelligent rap, they are actually very smart. In fact, they can even differentiate certain shapes and colors. According to Melissa Caughey, author of How to Speak Chicken and A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens, “Clicker trained to peck at one of four different shapes, such as a circle, square, triangle, and rectangle, chickens in one study could always pick their shape out of the grouping, no mat­ter how the shapes were arranged.”

10. Rats solve puzzles

You might not think of rats as the smartest animals since humans are continually using them for experiments. But did you consider that the reason we use them is that they’re smart, and can handle the puzzles we throw at them? They can memorize routes (hence, the mazes), even though their eyesight is far, far less acute than ours is. And their problem-solving skills are on par with those of dogs, despite their brains being much smaller. Equally impressive, a Harvard Business Review study found that “even though the rat brain is smaller and less complex than the human brain, research has shown that the two are remarkably similar in structure and function.”

11. Pigeons can memorize images

Here’s another of the smartest animals that you probably have the exact opposite impression of. Pigeons, despite their comically “clumsy” walking style and seemingly vacant stares, are not as “bird-brained” as you might think! In a complex German study, pigeons were shown 725 random black-and-white images one at a time. They were able to differentiate between the images in an identification game that, according to Psychology Today, would give most humans trouble. We’re not saying that the next time you shoo a pigeon, it’ll remember your face for all eternity, but you might want to be careful just in case!

12. African Greys are as smart as a three-year-old

Besides being able to mimic humans, parrots can solve puzzles based on logical reasoning. According to Live Science, these parrots are as smart as a three-year-old child. “Parrots can draw conclusions about where to find a food reward not only from clues as to its location but also from the absence of clues—an ability previously only seen in humans and other apes . . . ‘It suggests that Grey parrots have some understanding of causality and that they can use this to reason about the world,’ study scientist Christian Schloegl, a researcher at the University of Vienna, told LiveScience.”

13. Portia spiders use trial-and-error

What the heck is this thing?! Well, it’s a genus of a spider whose undeniable intelligence is about to turn up the dial on your arachnophobia. (Luckily, they pose no danger to humans!) There are multiple species of Portia, native to Southeast Asia, parts of Africa, and northeastern Australia. And their hunting tactics show clear evidence of problem-solving abilities—if one technique doesn’t work, they’ll give something else a try, altering their method if something works on one species of prey spider and not another.

They’ve earned the nickname “eight-legged cats” because of their skillful, intelligence-driven hunting. Sometimes they’ll take hours upon hours to stalk a single prey spider, perching on its web and moving so slowly that they don’t cause any reverberations that might clue their prey in.

14. Dogs are as smart as toddlers

There’s a reason dogs are man’s best friend. Not only are they adorable, they’re also crazy smart. They have emotions, they learn tricks, they recognize their owners, they can sense others’ feelings—and that’s not even all of the clever things dogs can do. According to Live Science, they’re as smart as a two-year-old child. “The finding is based on a language development test, revealing average dogs can learn 165 words (similar to a two-year-old child), including signals and gestures, and dogs in the top 20 percent in intelligence can learn 250 words,” says the Live Science article. “While dogs ranked with the two-year-olds in language, they would trump a three- or four-year-old in basic arithmetic, [Stanley Coren, a canine expert and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia] found. In terms of social smarts, our drooling furballs fare even better.”

15. Chimpanzees are very similar to humans

Unsurprisingly, chimpanzees are one of the most intelligent animals on this planet—next to humans, of course. Similar to how humans inherit their intelligence from their mother, a chimpanzee’s intelligence also greatly relies on their genes. “They can learn words, play with objects, and even seem to mourn the deaths of their friends,” says National Geographic. “Genes determine about half of the variability in chimp intelligence and environmental factors the other half, according to primatologist William Hopkins, of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues.” Chimps also have their own way of making life a little easier.

In fact, studies have shown some of these primates to fashion spears to hunt smaller prey and long branches to dig for termites,” according to Caleb Backe, health and wellness expert for Maple Holistics.

1. Flamingos bend their legs at the ankle, not the knee

They essentially stand on tip-toe. Their knees are closer to the body and are covered by feathers. This is just the first of many weird facts to blow your minds!

2. Roller coasters were invented to distract Americans from sin

In the 1880s, hosiery businessman LaMarcus Thompson hated that Americans were tempted by hedonistic places like saloons and brothels. So he set out to straighten up one of the most immoral places he could think of: Coney Island in New York. There, he built America’s first roller coaster to give New Yorkers some good, clean fun—away from seedier pastimes.

3. Ice pops were invented by an 11-year-old by accident

In 1905, an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson left soda powder and water outside overnight with its wooden stirrer still in the cup. The mixture had frozen in the chilly nighttime weather, and so the Epsicle was born. He sold the treat around his neighborhood and a nearby amusement park and even patented the recipe. Years later, he changed the name to Popsicle because that’s what his kids called their pop’s concoction.

4. Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins can

By slowing their heart rates, sloths can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes. Dolphins need to come up for air after about ten minutes.

5. It’s impossible to hum while holding your nose

You just tested it, didn’t you? Normally, when you hum, the air is able to escape through your nose to create the sound, and of course, it can’t do that when you’re holding it shut. This is one of the weird facts you can test out for yourself. Go ahead, try it.

6. Octopuses have three hearts

Squids do too. One pumps blood to their whole systems, and two are dedicated just to the gills.

7. Most wasabi paste isn’t real wasabi

Wasabi is expensive, so most companies use horseradish instead. Real wasabi is actually milder than what you’ve been getting with your sushi.

8. People used to say “prunes” instead of “cheese” when having their pictures taken

In the 1840s, a big—dare we say, cheesy—grin was seen as childish, so one London photographer told people to say “prunes” to keep their mouths taut. And that look predated today’s “fish face” selfie by, oh, about 180 years.

9. Dunce caps used to be signs of intelligence

Thirteenth-century philosopher John Duns Scotus believed that a pointed cap would help spread knowledge from the tip to the brain, and his “Dunsmen” followers wore them as a badge of honor. In the 1500s, though, his ideas became less popular and the meaning of the Duns cap was turned on its head, becoming something of a joke.

10. Lobsters taste with their feet

Tiny bristles inside a lobster’s little pincers are their equivalent to human taste buds. Meanwhile, lobsters’ teeth are in one of their three stomachs.

11. Before toilet paper was invented, Americans used to use corn cobs

Alternatively, they’d use periodicals like the Farmers Almanac, which was designed with a hole so it could hang in outhouses. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.

12. Blue whale tongues can weigh as much as an elephant

Their hearts, meanwhile, can weigh almost a ton and needs to beat just once every ten seconds.

13. The world’s largest waterfall is underwater

Yes, there are waterfalls under the ocean. At the Denmark Strait, the cold water from the Nordic Sea is denser than the Irminger Sea’s warm water, making it drop almost two miles down at 123 million cubic feet per second.

14. Shadows are darker on the Moon

On Earth, the atmosphere scatters more sunlight, so our shadows aren’t too dark. But on the Moon, shadows are so dark that Neil Armstrong said he had trouble seeing where he was going.

15. Some sea cucumbers fight with their guts (literally)

When threatened, they’ll shoot out their internal organs, which are poisonous to predators. They’ll sometimes get rid of their entire digestive systems—but the organs grow back.

16. Strawberries aren’t berries

Neither are raspberries and blackberries, according to botanists. True berries stem from one single-ovary flower and have two or more seeds. Strawberries don’t fit that bill, but bananas, kiwis, and watermelon do.

17. NASA uses countdowns because of a sci-fi film

The countdown Fritz Lang used to create suspense in the rocket launch scene of his 1929 silent film Frau im Mond didn’t just change film history—it also inspired NASA to use countdowns before its own blastoffs. It’s not exactly a race against the clock though. NASA can feel free to pause the clock to check mechanical difficulties.

18. The world’s smallest wasp is smaller than an amoeba

The Megaphragma mymaripenne wasp has the same body parts as for any other bug (brain, wings, eyes, and more) but is a fifth of a millimeter long, making it smaller than most amoebas, which are made of just one cell.

19. “OK” most likely stands for fake words

In the 1830s, people jokingly spelled abbreviations incorrectly. One of the most famous: “All correct” turned into “orl korrekt,” and then of course into OK. Historians think it stuck because Martin Van Buren—known as Old Kinderhook, after his hometown in New York—supporters called themselves the OK Club when he was campaigning for reelection.

20. The shortest railways in the world take less than a minute

The shortest funicular railway is Fisherman’s Walk Cliff Railway located in Bournemouth, England, and Angels Flight, located in Los Angeles, advertises on its website that it’s the shortest railway in the world.

21. The last letter added to the alphabet was actually “J”

You might think that the letter “Z” is the last letter added because it’s the last letter of the alphabet, but that’s incorrect. It’s actually “J.” The alphabet that we know and love today wasn’t created alphabetically, too!

22. Cucumber slices can fight bad breath

Here’s a weird fact you might know: cucumbers can fight bad breath! If you don’t have a mint on hand, use a slice of cucumber!

That Tiny Pocket on your Blue Jeans …

… is for your pocket watch. Well, maybe not yours, but the cowboys who made blue jeans famous in the 1800s were plumb grateful for it. Typically, watches were carried on chains and worn in waistcoats, but hard field labor made that a lot less practical. Outdoors, the “watch pocket” on any pair of jeans did just the trick—even after watches moved to the wrist. “This extra pouch has served many functions, evident in its many titles,” the Levi Strauss website reminds us: “frontier pocket, coin pocket, match pocket, and ticket pocket, to name a few.”

Home Burglaries Are More Likely to Occur During the Day

We usually think of home burglaries occurring in the cover of night, but in fact, homes are more likely to be subject to burglary while the sun is out. According to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, burglaries were 6 percent more likely to occur between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (when residents were at work or running errands) than at night.

Keep Spiders Away

So what does wd 40 do? Well, WD stands for “water displacing” and it’s mainly used is as a solvent. WD-40 has lubricant-like properties, that do not come from the substance itself, but rather from dissolving components. Have a fear of spiders? Just spray some WD-40 on places where spiders and other insects can get in, such as windowsills and door frames. It will keep the spiders and other bugs out.

A Messy Home Might Help Stoke Creativity

In areas where you get creative—your home office, workshop, or kitchen—researchers have found that clutter can enhance creativity. In several experiments, subjects were asked to complete creative tasks—complete a puzzle, take a “Remote Associates Test,” and create a drawing—in a cluttered room and a pristine one. Those in the messy room completed the puzzle fastest, scored highest on the Remote Associates Test, and earned the best marks from the drawing-judging panel.

Last-Ditch Patching Fix

You’ve made two trips to the home center store already but you’re eyeing a tiny hole in your wall that you’ve got to patch up and you’ve run out of material. Head to to the bathroom and grab that tube of toothpaste for a quick fix.

Most Toilets Flush in E Flat

Sharp-eared bathroom users may have noticed that the distinctive sound of a toilet flushing corresponds with the E Flat note.

If you think all of your refrigerator is one consistent temperature, think again—depending on the model, the amount of chill in the fridge can vary widely. For example, a study conducted by CNET found temperatures could range in French-door models from 32.8º to as high as 50.7º Fahrenheit.

Spaghetti Strainer

The hole in a spaghetti strainer actually serves two purposes. Besides allowing water to fall out the bottom when you go into scoop out some noodles, the little hole is a measuring tool you can use prior to cooking the noodles. The hole measures out one full serving of noodles.

Peanuts aren’t technically nuts

They’re legumes. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” That means walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios aren’t nuts either. They’re seeds

Keeping a Refrigerator Full Doesn’t Use Less Energy

If you’re trying to save some money on your electricity bill, picking up some extra groceries is not going to do it. While the myth persists that a full fridge uses less energy, according to researcher Jacob Talbot of the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, “A full refrigerator doesn’t decrease energy use.” Instead, he suggests focusing on checking the seals on the door to prevent leaks and keeping the unit between 36º and 38º Fahrenheit.

Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetter

The chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water so it’s easier to spread and soak into objects, which is why it’s known as “wet water.”

There’s a Difference Between Couches and Sofas

We use the two terms interchangeably, but coaches and sofas are two distinct things. To help define the difference, look no further than eBay, whose helpful selling guide helps sellers tell the difference between the two by defining the couch as “a piece of furniture with no arms used for lying” (even though that definition is slightly outdated) and coming from the French word “couche.”

Sofas come from the Arabic word “suffah,” referring to a wooden bench covered in cushions and blankets. That’s evolved to mean they are furniture for more formal occasions and seat four or more people, compared to the couch, which seats two to three.

Shoes Were Once Seen as Ways to Fend Off Evil Spirits

Europeans once stashed their shoes in walls, chimneys and under floors in an effort to fend off evil spirits. It wasn’t because they smelled bad—the shoes were seen to possess magical charms that served as protection. So many shoes were found in old buildings that the Northampton Museum and Art in the United Kingdom has created a Concealed Shoe Index to track these discoveries, tracking about 1,900 concealed shoes so far.

 

source: bestlifeonline, familyhandyman